IMPORTANT
*Unless otherwise specified, readings and assignment should be completed by the start of class on the day they are listed on the syllabus.
*The below schedule includes due dates for assignments and our major (and longer) texts. As our semester conversations develop, I will add shorter texts meant to complement our discussions of the central texts. In general, you should expect that for the 2nd week we discuss a particular text I will also ask you to read an additional, supplementary text(s) (ex. an article, speech, selection of poems or images, video, etc. ).
*I reserve the right to adjust the below schedule to accommodate our particular class needs.
*Changes to the schedule will be announced in one or more of the following ways: in-class announcement; group email; post on the “announcement” page of the course site.
Date
Reading Assignments
Deadlines
9/2
- Introduction
- McKittrick, Katherine. “Worn Out.” Southeastern Geographer. 57.1 Special Issue: Black Geographies in and of the United States South (Spring 2017): 96-100.
- Ellison, Ralph. “Prologue.” Invisible Man, pp1-14. Posted by Macaulay Honors College, City University of New York. Last Accessed 8/28/21. Full text pdf, posted by Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. Last accessed 8/28/21.
- Clip of “‘Love is the Message, The Message is Death’ by Arthur Jafa.‘” (7:22) Posted by Kenan Alsarabi. June 10, 2018. YouTube. Last Accessed 8/28/21.
- “Charles Ramsey Interview Rescuer of Amanda Berry, Gina De Jesus, and Michelle Knight in Cleveland” (2.54) Posted by News5 Cleveland. May 6, 2013. YouTube. Last Accessed 8/29/21.
- BC: Wed. 9/8 – Add/Drop Ends
- BC: Wed. 9/8 – P/F Deadline
9/9
- Watch: “‘Love is the Message, The Message is Death’ by Arthur Jafa.‘” (7:22) Posted by Kenan Alsarabi. June 10, 2018. YouTube. Last Accessed 8/28/21.
- Watch: “Charles Ramsey Interview Rescuer of Amanda Berry, Gina De Jesus, and Michelle Knight in Cleveland” (2.54) Posted by News5 Cleveland. May 6, 2013. YouTube. Last Accessed 8/29/21.
- Read: L’Official, Peter. “The Visual Frequency of Black Life,” Paris Review. July 12, 2018. <theparisreview.org> Last Accessed 8/29/21.
- Read: Fleetwood, N., “Introduction,” Troubling Vision.
- Read: Douglass, Frederick. “The Claims of the Negro, Ethnologically Considered: an Address before the Literary Societies of Western Reserve College, at Commencement, July 12, 1854.” Library of Congress. Loc.gov. Last Accessed 8/28/21. For – Text only PDF Version.
- Read: DuBois, W.E.B. “Strivings of the Negro People.” The Atlantic. August 1897. (Republished on theatlantic.com along with an audio clip). Accessed 8/29/21. For the most well-known version of this essay, see: DuBois, W.E.B. “Of Our Spiritual Strivings” Chapter One in The Souls of Black Folk. 1903. Project Gutenberg, Published January, 1996. Accessed 8/29/21.
- Optional
- Mirzoeff, N., “Introduction,” Right to Look.
- BC: Mass of the Holy Spirit
- BC: Wed. 9/8 – Add/Drop Ends
- BC: Wed. 9/8 – P/F Deadline
9/16
- “Slave Narratives” Packet
- Chapters 1-21 from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 1861. Documenting the South, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill <docsouth.unc.edu> Last Accessed 8/28/21.
- Chapters 6-7 + song on page 61 from Brown, Henry “Box,” Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written Himself. 1851. Documenting the South, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill<docsouth.unc.edu>Last Accessed 8/28/21.
- Neary, Janet, “Introduction: Representational Static.” Fugitive Testimony: On the Visual Logic of Slave Narratives. Fordham UP: New York, NY, 2017.
- Optional
- Chapters 1-3 or basically all of Brown, Henry “Box,” Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written Himself. 1851. Documenting the South, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill<docsouth.unc.edu>Last Accessed 8/28/21.
- Excerpts from Douglass, Frederick. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. 1845. Documenting the South, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill<docsouth.unc.edu>Last Accessed 8/28/21.
9/23
- “Slave Narratives” Packet
- “Neo Slave Narratives” Packet
- Kara Walker- select texts include 2 Image albums; 4 Video clips; and 2 Interviews (This link will take you to the Kara Walker multimedia post on our site, where you can find the specific selections to read, watch, and view.)
- Alvin Ailey’s Revelations, [Start at 1:10:15]
- White, Artress Bethany. “Tradition: A Perilous Age in A Black Girl’s Life.” Poetry Foundation. Accessed 9/9/21.
- Shockley, Evie. “Sex Trafficking Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in the USA (or, the Nation’s Plague in Plain Sight)” Poetry Foundation. Accessed 9/9/21
- Optional
- “bill t. jones” (8:08) posted on Jan 21, 2008n
- Neary, Janet. “Sight Unseen: Contemporary Visual Slave Narratives” Chapter One. Fugitive Testimony: On the Visual Logic of Slave
Due – Project Proposal
9/30
- The Garies and Their Friends
Facilitator A
10/7
- The Garies and Their Friends
- Otter, Samuel. “Frank Webb’s Still Life: Rethinking Literature and Politics through ‘The Garies and Their Friends'” American Literary History 20:4 (Winter, 2008): 728-52.
- Optional
- Otter, Samuel. “Philadelphia Experiments.” American Literary History 16.1 (Spring, 2004) 103-116
10/14
- Fire!! Devoted to Younger Negro Artists (1926). (An interactive scan of Fire!! is available online via the POC Zine Project’s issuu site.)
Facilitator B
Due Project Proposal by October 15th at Noon
Due- Midterm Journal Assessment by October 16th at Noon
10/21
- Fire!! Devoted to Younger Negro Artists (1926). (An interactive scan of Fire!! is available online via the POC Zine Project’s issuu site.)
- Optional
10/28
- Fire!! Devoted to Younger Negro Artists (1926). (An interactive scan of Fire!! is available online via the POC Zine Project’s issuu site.)
- Fleetwood, Nicole. Chapter Two. Troubling Vision.
- Optional
Facilitator C
11/4
- “Black Looks” Packet
- Morrison, T. “Sweetness,” New Yorker. February 2, 2015.
- Forward and the two opening vignettes to Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye
- Pages 44-50 of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.
- Chapter One from Crafts, H. The Bondswoman’s Narrative.
- Chapter XXXI (31) from Jacobs, H. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.
- Campt, Tina M., “Family Matters Diaspora, Difference, and Visual Archive,” Social Text 98 27.1 (Spring 2009): 83-114.
- OPTIONAL
- Excerpts from Patricia Hill Collin’s Black Feminist Thought
- Jordan, June and Langston Hughes. Who Look at Me.
Facilitator C
11/11
- Sassafrass, Cypress, & Indigo
- Lorde, Audre. “Uses of the Erotic.” Sister Outsider.
- Lorde, Audre. Four poems from “Audre Lorde 1934-1992.” Poetry Foundation, poetryfoundation.org> Accessed 11/5/21.
- Optional
- Lorde, Audre. “Poetry is Not a Luxury” Sister Outsider. PDF hosted on a sites.utexas.edu WordPress Site. Accessed 11/5/21.
- “Amiri Baraka reads ‘Black Art'” [6:33]. Uploaded by hoodoojazz. Youtube.com < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh2P-tlEH_w > Accessed 10/29/19.
- Baraka, Amiri. “Black Art.” Rap Genius. < https://genius.com/Amiri-baraka-black-art-annotated > Accessed 10/29/19.
Facilitator D
11/18
- Sassafrass, Cypress, & Indigo
- “See Black in Motion” Packet
- Shange, Ntozake. “Introduction” and “Dance in My Life.” Dance We Do: A Poet Explores Black Dance. Beacon Press. 2020.
- “Black Artists in the Duke” Playlist, Jacobs Pillow Dance Interactive. Watch all 18 clips. Last Accessed 8/29/21.
- “Black Voices” Playlist, Jacobs Pillow Dance Interactive. Watch all 16 clips. Last Accessed 8/29/21.
- Optional
- Gumbs, Alexis Pauline. “Outlive: Dance and the Eternal Life of Ntozake Shange.” Forward. Shange, Ntozake. “Introduction” and “Dance in My Life.” Dance We Do: A Poet Explores Black Dance. Beacon Press. 2020.
Facilitator E
11/25
- No Class
- BC: No Classes, Thanksgiving
Due – Project Check In 11/ 20 by 7pm
12/2
- Watch The Fits
12/9
- Presentations
Due – Any Outstanding Paper Presentation Materials Due – 12/9 by 11:59 pm – including any citation corrections requested.
Due: All extra credit opportunities (except course evaluation exc.) must be posted and/or emailed to professor – 12/9 by 11:59 pm
12/10 – 12/13
- BC: Study Days
Due – Final Journal Assessment – 12/11 by 9:00 pm
Due – 1 of 3 Project Materials – 12/13 by 11:59 pm.
12/14 – 12/21
- BC: Exam Days
Due – 2 of 3 Project Material – 12/14 by 11:59 pm.
Due – 3 of 3 Project Materials – 12/15 by 11:59 pm
Due – Any Course Evaluation Extra Credit documents. (Refer to your in-class notes for more details.) – 12/18 by 5:00 pm
12/23
- BC: Grades Posted
Not sure about what post group group you’re in, click here.
IMPORTANT
*Unless otherwise specified, readings and assignment should be completed by the start of class on the day they are listed on the syllabus.
*The below schedule includes due dates for assignments and our major (and longer) texts. As our semester conversations develop, I will add shorter texts meant to complement our discussions of the central texts. In general, you should expect that for the 2nd week we discuss a particular text I will also ask you to read an additional, supplementary text(s) (ex. an article, speech, selection of poems or images, video, etc. ).
*I reserve the right to adjust the below schedule to accommodate our particular class needs.
*Changes to the schedule will be announced in one or more of the following ways: in-class announcement; group email; post on the “announcement” page of the course site.